Like a Father to Me
by Coolguybest9
Summary: Requested by Recycler. Saved from death and tasked with being an ambassador between two timelines, an arrogant, uptight Scanner model finds family in the form of a human whose home he's involuntarily occupying in a new world where White Chlorination is all but fiction.
1. Removal

This first chapter was one half of a birthday present to Recycler.

If only I could have gotten this to him on time.

* * *

The door quietly swung open and closed just as silently. 40B had just entered the storage area were 131S was hiding. Mentally, he cursed the infernal luck that got him in this position. He didn't mean to read all of those files. He didn't want to be burdened with this knowledge. He didn't ask to be put in this position.

But the android who just found his hiding place, who was once one of his closest advisors and- dare he say it- the closest android he'd known to be a friend, was slowly encroaching on him. He knew better than to give any sign he was there. Once, the only name he had for her was "40B", but now he knew far, far better. She was part of the less-palatable part of YoRHa, which were created to keep the secret a secret.

She was really 40E, an Executor type. 131S had no clue as to the number of androids who had meet their end at her blades, their only crime being possession of knowledge. And now, the administration had deemed him guilty of the same, as the nearing android could obviously attest.

There was really nowhere he could go. 131S was the lead administrator of the camp, doing something like- dare he think it- fleeing the camp was unthinkable. This was his home. His work, his labor, his pride. All of this was going to be taken away from him by the Executor in a minute or so because he found a few files he wasn't supposed to.

131S took a deep breath. Perhaps, he mused, he should enjoy the final moments he had here. Reflect on and be happy with all his accomplishments so far. Yes, that could very well be a good-

A resounding crash sounded through the room. A choked shriek pierced through 131S's ears briefly afterwards, before he heard the distinct sound of an android's body collapsing on the ground. His joints locked. What happened? Was she… down? Was there some sort of catastrophic failure on her part? This doesn't happen without some-

"Ugh, I hate that I have to log all these incidents." Someone was not so quietly making their way through the room. Someone, 131S noted, he hadn't heard before at all, and someone who just… appeared(?) in this room. "Alright, come on out, 131S, she's down. I got something for ya."

131S sat there in disbelief. Who was this, who claimed to take out a YoRHa android so quickly- and an Executor model, no less. And who was she to demand such of an administrator like him?

The exact same to disable an Executor model. Right.

131S quickly made up his mind. If she was powerful enough to stop an Executor, she was powerful enough to stop him several times over. Best to not provoke her into attacking him, he reasoned. 131S stood up and slowly made his way toward the unknown interloper.

As he rounded the corner, he sized up the new android. She stood slightly taller than he did, wearing black and white clothes- black boots, gloves, tie, and a short skirt, but a white blouse. She was paging through a rather thick book with an embossed golden cover, her right hand both supporting the book and looped through a large, full ring of keys. She leaned against a sizable suitcase which, to an unsuspecting onlooker, would seem to outweigh her. Laying on the ground in front of her was an unconscious 40B.

No, 131S reminded himself, 40E.

"There you are," the stranger wistfully noted the obvious, not looking up from her apparently engrossing literature, "I was wondering if I needed to pull you out here myself."

"Who are you? What do you want? How did you overcome an Executor type?" He wanted answers, _now_.

The stranger merely rolled her eyes, still not looking at him. "Save someone from their imminent rapid dismemberment, and all they can do is demand you answer their myriad of questions. But, considering the extenuating circumstances, I suppose I may answer a few questions for you." She straightened herself up, faced 131S, and bowed. "You may call me Accord. I want you to become an ambassador, of a sort. Easily." She rose back up and returned to her book, still not looking at him. "I believe I answered your questions."

"What- no! No you haven't!" 131S saw Accord suddenly pause, her head slightly looking up from her book. "Why did you select me? Why did you take out 40E? Why-" He was cut off when she snapped her book shut, turning to face him.

"Listen, 131S. I saved you from being removed from existence. Considering your kind's propensity to want to continue living, you're being rather rude at the moment." She began advancing toward him, taking on an intimidating air that surpassed what she seemingly should be capable of. "You can accept that this is going on, you being saved from your assigned Executor and following my instructions, or… you can decline," she bent down and effortlessly picked up the nightmare that stalked 131S just minutes before, "and she can continue doing her job. I'm sure at least she'll be happy."

131S paused in thought. Accord wasn't leaving him any choice, and the not-so-veiled threat of noncompliance wasn't something he could leave unfactored. "I understand the situation, Accord. I'll cooperate with you."

"Good!" Accord let 40E crash into a heap at her feet, then reached out to grab the deactivated pod next to her. "Here, for your trouble." She paused, miming being in thought. "Ah, sorry to drop this on you so suddenly, but I don't think you'll be able to make the trip there awake."

"Wait, wait." 131S couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you insinuating that you didn't just drop the rest of this entire situation on top of me?"

"No," Accord picked up her suitcase, "but this is the only part I truly feel sorry about."

She brought it around her head, striking 131S before he could react.


	2. Dropoff

Joseph lay in bed, silence and darkness draping around him. The blistering Washington summer finally forced him to pull out his fans around the house, including the one in his bedroom which was currently blowing on him. He had finally gotten comfortable and finally had the pillows just right after about an hour of trying to find the right position. He was finally feeling unconsciousness close in around him.

A knock sounded at his door.

Joseph furrowed his eyebrows, not opening his eyes. Had he just heard something? It wasn't unheard of for people to just… hear things in the middle of the night. But it had sounded so specific, so exact. He heard odd things, but it took him a while to rationalize what he heard, mostly because it was just his mind playing tricks on him. But he recognized this immediately. No, he told himself, it was probably just a figment of my imagin-

A knock, again, sounded at his door.

Joseph frowned. So it wasn't his imagination. So that knock was real. Something had to make that knock, something that wasn't just some animal. It had to be a human. But… wait, why was there a human right at his door? He lived alone, there shouldn't even be someone at his door!

There… shouldn't even…

Shouldn't be… Someone…

Everything suddenly clicked. Why was there someone at his door? What did they want? Why were they in his room?

Why did they knock?

Joseph tepidly stood up, casting his sheets aside. He wasn't sure at all what could be lying behind his door. They probably had no ill intent, considering they were, y'know, knocking, and not braking his door down and slitting his throat. Step by step, he made his way toward the door. He took a deep breath and slowly turned the doorknob, then pulled the door open.

"Finally! What were you doing, sleeping?" Some strange woman stood before him. She was a bit on the short side, wearing black and white clothes- black boots, gloves, tie, and a short skirt, but a white blouse. Slung over her shoulders was a limp boy, mid- to late-teens by his size, who was wearing nothing but jet black clothes. From what he could tell, it looked like everything he wore was of pretty good make.

She barely took a few steps forward before Joseph tried to stop her. Tried being the operative word- she stopped, but Joseph was surprised by the sheer amount of momentum she had. It seemed to him that he had no true say in where she was going to go.

He didn't know who she was, and he wasn't quite fond of the idea of her just being in his home. She showed no reluctance in what she was doing, so he shouldn't show it either.

"W- Who are you, and- uh, and what you- what are you doing here?"

Far easier said than done.

The intruder raised an eyebrow as she eyed Joseph over, then shrugged, adjusting the person on her back. "Accord. Dropping an android off. I trust that's not a problem."

"What the hell are you saying? Of course there's-" The stranger- Accord, apparently- had just shouldered her way past, silencing him. And boy, did it ever hurt. Joseph staggered around to try to keep his balance, then turned to the extremely rude intruder in anger. He was about to launch into a tirade against her when she dropped her cargo onto the floor next to his bed.

Bodies aren't supposed to land that loudly.

"'Scanner models are built to be light'. 'Scanner models are built to stay out of the way'. Evidence suggests otherwise, Joseph."

"Wh- what's a 'scanner model'? Are you saying he's an- an android? Wait, how do you know my name?"

Accord sighed, turning away. "If I had known this job would be question after question, I might not even have bothered." She turned back, a tired look on her face. "Look, you're going to need to hold on to all of your questions. I'm not going to be explaining everything to you. This one," she motioned back to the prone body, "is going to answer any questions you may have. He has a good enough understanding of the situation. Now, I'm going to ask," she took several intimidating steps forward, and Joseph backed up until he found himself up against a wall, "are there going to be any problems?" Her voice grew cold, dripping with an unveiled threat.

"I- I won't- uh- no, no t-there won't." Don't anger her, you can deal with the consequences later.

"Good!" Accord turned on her heel and walked out, strangely calm after the whole ordeal. "You can expect me to be around when I'm needed."

Joseph blinked in confusion as she passed. "What? Huh? Wait," he turned after her as she shut the door behind herself. "I still have-" Joseph opened the door, and found an empty hallway there.

But…

But she was just there not even a second ago! Where did she- Where could she- What'd she mean by 'being around when needed'? These were only a fraction of the questions buzzing around his head, and he couldn't keep it all straight! No, calm down. Just turn around, you can figure this out in the morn-

Merely seeing the crumpled body lying next to his bed thwarted his plans. He sighed, braced himself, and set to work dragging the suspiciously heavy individual to his spare bedroom, where he left his new houseguest on the floor.


	3. Dawning

I really need to motivate myself more.

* * *

Joseph slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The previous night was rather unkind to him, he could tell. Having trouble falling asleep was one thing but that freaking dream. It was so weird. The woman was one thing, but the… the android? She just… stopped in and dropped off an android, threatening him with bodily harm if he didn't accept.

God, Joseph thought as he threw off the blankets and sat up, maybe I should talk to Kenn about those nightmares. They've been getting weirder and weirder lately. Joseph froze when he heard his door click open, and stared in horror at the boy standing in the doorframe.

It either wasn't a nightmare, or he was still in one.

It was the- the android, wasn't it? He was standing right there, in blatant violation of the fact that dreams are supposed to stay in dreams. The black-clad menace stood before Joseph, hiding his emotions behind a stony demeanor and his eyes behind his black blindfold. Joseph could feel the indifference as the intruder walked into the room.

"Breakfast is almost ready. Be down in five."

...Wait, what?

What the hell was going on? What happened to the threatening… android, apparently, that was standing in his bedroom, who might potentially kill him with his mere presence? Why was he acting so calm, like everything was normal? Why was he offering breakfast?!

The boy stared at him all the while, a silent judgement of his very being. "Please tell me that she didn't dump me with a malfunctioning human."

"M- What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, at least you're able to talk." He briefly turned, talking to himself, "Wait, maybe he missed what I said. Human, breakfast-"

"I heard you the first time!"

He briefly looked confused. "Then why did you state your confusion?"

Joseph stared at the boy. He was starting to get worried that his mental state wasn't as stable as he once thought. "Just- no, what the hell are you talking about?!"

"You just asked-"

"Let me finish!" Joseph threw himself out of bed, managing to stumble only a little bit. "I- you're some stranger who walks into my home, and you expect that I'm just going to accept that you're supposed to be here? Breaking in and- for some ungodly reason- making me breakfast?"

"Actually, I didn't walk into your house."

"That's what you take issue with?"

"Not really. I'm also taking issue with your tone of voice, but at least I'm not taking issue with your unfortunate location, being in the same room that I am."

"Mostly because you're not supposed to be here!"

"Yeah, you try telling that to Accord. I didn't have much of a voice in this matter."

Joseph froze. "…Wait, 'Accord'? Was- is she-"

"Black hair, black and white clothes? Book, huge suitcase? Completely indifferent to anything related to reason?"

"B- so she was real?"

"Unfortunately. I mean, I can't really complain, since she did do me a favor, but I can't really agree with her decision of where she brought me."

"Oh god…" Joseph took a step backwards, the realization beginning to seep down throughout himself. She was real. She just walked into his house, with no resistance. Would she do so again? Could he stop her? How did she even enter, in the first place? These questions drummed against his skull before he gave in. "…You said there was breakfast?"

The android, who still hadn't introduced himself, wordlessly led Joseph- through his own house, no less- to his kitchen. As he smelled, and heard, something sizzling away, he marveled at the thought of the android's apparent sense of timing. How precise did he need to be, setting breakfast up, then going upstairs to wake him? Well, granted, the android didn't actually need to be there right when it needed to be done, but still. It's incredibly confident of him to do something like this.

When Joseph rounded the corner, he expected to see the android checking up on the meal being prepared, but surprisingly found someone- sorry, something else there. Some gray cuboid thing sat in the air, hovering, right next to the stove. Four short, robotic arms branched out from beneath it, two large and two small. A few components on its body stood out in bright yellow.

Joseph blinked, taking in the scene before him. How long had it been, since someone else had been here. Two years? Three? And now, there apparently was an android sitting down at his kitchen table, and some robot or whatever hovering at his stove making him breakfast!

So that's two symptoms: nightmares and hallucinations. Joseph noted to himself to talk to Kenn the second these hallucinations stopped, and get himself on some new meds. In a haze he made his way over to the chair he always sat at, attempting to seat himself in what he could ensure was reality.

"I've noticed you haven't given me your name." The android did not sound pleasant in the slightest.

"Joseph." His voice was quiet, since his mind was focused on… other matters.

"131S, adminis- well, former administrator of camp J-Psi."

"Pod 568," a feminine voice crackled from around the stove, "not that either of you asked."

"Was- Did that-?" Joseph sputtered.

131S turned around toward the offending… object? "Well, you're a pod. No one asks about you."

"Bold words to someone doing you a favor," the machine barked back. "Without my assistance, you would still be floundering, without any knowledge of what to do."

"It's not that hard, I could have figured it out just by reading the directions."

"That would be problematic, considering there are no directions on eggs."

"Well he could have done without it for a day! They're humans. They don't need much to survive," 131S briefly turned back to Joseph, "right?"

"Uh- Yeah, I g-"

"See? He understands."

The robot- 568, apparently-jerked up, launching the eggs out of the skillet, onto a nearby plate. With a careless throw, the skillet clattered near the sink as 568 picked up the plate, turned, and hovered over toward Joseph, setting it down just carefully enough. "It's done." She turned back toward 131S. "If you consider it so easy, then I suggest you perform the action next time."

"Fine," 131S stood up, "I will."

Joseph started panicking slightly as 131S began to rapidly rummage through his kitchen. "Wait, 113- no, 131?"

"131S!" He harshly corrected over his shoulder without missing a beat.

"Listen," Joseph hurried into the kitchen, trying to stop 131S from completely destroying what he had, "we can worry about that later, and I'll show you something easy to make, alright?"

The android stopped, and slowly craned his neck around toward Joseph, a look of focused anger plastered across his face. "Excuse you?" 131S took a threatening step toward Joseph, making him back up. The can in 131S's right hand cracked, beginning to spill its contents onto the unfortunate hand. "I've administrated an entire camp. I've taken that backwater camp, from its all-but-forgotten state, and I've turned it into one of the very models that YoRHa looks toward to ensure that optimal efficiency! I've dealt with waves of machines trying to bring all my work to a sudden end. I've dealt with androids trying to sabotage my reputation. I've dealt with back-stabbing, threats, anything you can think of, I've brought my base through.

"I will not let myself be chided and stopped by a simple human." He emphasized the final word by squeezing on the can again, crushing it and sending a spray of soup across the kitchen.

Joseph blinked and stepped back. He needed to calm him down, and quick.

"I- Uh, fine, alright, alright, I'm sorry. Look, please calm down, I don't want to have to run to the grocery store so soon. Let's, let's just sit back down and talk this over." With an incredibly unsteady hand, Joseph ushered (or attempted to usher) the android back to the table, his mind swimming with the complications suddenly thrust upon him.

Breakfast went as normally as it could, considering he had two strangers in his house, one being an android, and the other being a hovering box with arms. For the most part, the two strangers bickered with each other over the slightest of things. Once again, Joseph cursed the strange woman who appeared last night, thinking that him, of all people, would be an acceptable host for them. He struggled through breakfast, the eggs and bacon being far too burnt for even his taste. More than a few times, he's frustratingly needed to calm the altercations between 568 and 131S. Just as Joseph finished up his breakfast and finally settled down and talk to the two weirdos to figure out what's going on, he felt his phone vibrate.

"Could I have a few minutes of silence, at least?" Joseph fumbled the phone out of his pocket. The other two surprisingly acquiesced as he turned away to answer the phone. "Hello?"

"God, at least you're actually answering the phone."

Joseph immediately recognized the voice of his sister. "Cadie! What disaster's going on? You never call me."

"Maybe if you talked to us more, you'd already know. I stopped at Copper Creek overnight on my way down to see mom and dad."

"You weren't speeding again, were you?"

"I didn't get caught, and that's not the problem. Diana showed me a bar she liked to visit and…" Joseph worried about how she trailed off.

"Are you in jail?"

"…I'm not in jail anymore."

"Cadie!" Joseph brought a hand to his face. He couldn't believe just how irresponsible his family was. "I suppose you need me to bail you- wait, you aren't in jail anymore?"

"No. They just threw me in the drunk tank overnight, and I just found out they've impounded my car."

"Alright, out with it, what do you need me to do?"

"I need proof of insurance, and my phone's dead."

"Ask Diana if you can borrow-"

"She's still in there! Just get over here. It's only, what, a five minute drive?"

"Sixteen, actually. Closer to twelve, if I drive like you do."

Joseph could almost hear the eye-roll from over the phone. "Whatever. Help your sister out, alright?"

"Look, I…" he briefly glanced over his shoulder at 568 and 131S, "I'm going to need a few minutes to get ready."

"Fine, just get over here!"

"See you in a few." Joseph slipped his phone back into his pocket and turned toward the two more pressing problems in his life right now. Bringing them with him was out of the picture- he did not want to have to explain something to his sister that he couldn't explain to himself. "Guys, I… I'm going to need to leave for a bit."

"What for?" Joseph could almost tell 131S was glaring at him under the blindfold.

"My sister. I'm just going a town over, it should only be a half hour at worst." He stood as he continued talking to them, "Although knowing how things happen with her, it might be up to an hour. Uh, look, just try to not destroy anything in the meantime?"

131S stood up and marched toward Joseph. "What are you insinuating about-?"

He was cut short by 568 diving down and physically shutting his mouth. "Enough. You've caused sufficient damage already. If you want something to complain about, the mess you've made should be plenty." She turned back toward Joseph. "While I have my own concerns about you leaving, there is little I can do. Go."

Joseph hurried, grabbing only what he absolutely needed, and hurried off to his car.

The sooner he got away from them, the better.


	4. Return

You're all still here, right?

Right?

* * *

131S stared at the pod opposite him. He tried to remain still, seated at the kitchen table, but his mind raced, analyzing the innumerable inefficiencies around the house. Even the cursory glances he took between him powering on and waking up Joseph revealed far too much for him to be comfortable with.

He was an administrator by training. For a month, 131S remembered, they tried training him as a regular field Scanner. The Operators were continuously frustrated with him, even though he had been doing everything he was supposed to have done- nevermind all the details they were excessively prone, seemingly designed, to overlook.

Thankfully, some individuals in the Bunker had seen his hidden potential, and had put in a request to transfer him to camp administration. From there, he had proven his worth time and again to the androids beneath him. The camp of J/Ψ had been transformed from a minor resupply camp in the middle of nowhere into a camp of regional importance, hampered only its location in a quieter region. Though he could not control the circumstances, part of him wished that he could have better shown YoRHa that he was far more fit for this role than they originally thought.

Thinking about the current situation, he wondered about what his new role would be. Several times, he tried connecting to the Bunker, although he knew how senseless those attempts would be. He was an android of habit, doing what he always did, and being thrown into the world like this was extremely far outside of his usual working parameters.

He turned to regard the kitchen, and all of its various flaws. Simply cleaning up the area (as he was requested to) had made him even more frustrated, seeing everything in relative chaos, relative to how it should have been laid out. Spices and ingredients strewn haphazardly in a drawer below the stove, instead of organized alphabetically. Plates stacked in no less than three different locations, rather than having a sensible, centralized location.

See, for just one of those problems, 131S could potentially forgive such a lapse in judgement. True, he has seen worse in J/Ψ when he was first assigned there, but he unquestionably resolved these issues one by one through his stay. 131S grumbled in frustration as he mulled over the poor decisions his host had taken, and one thought in particular stuck in the front of his mind.

Just what was he supposed to do here?

That one android- Accord, if his memory served him- had moved him here against his will, and never told him why. Something also told him that she talked to Joseph, but just by judging the state of the house, Joseph's surprise on seeing 131S in his house shouldn't have been so unforeseeable.

These thoughts cemented themselves in his head. 131S had to help Joseph, set him back onto a better path. As he stood, that ever-frustrating pod spoke up.

"Reminder: Joseph requested-"

"I know what he requested," 131S turned only enough to glare at her, "and I'm not going to break anything. Mark my words, he'll thank me for what I've done. If you're going to be snippy about this, mind telling me his exact words?"

568 hesitated. "'Try to not destroy anything in the meantime'."

"Right. And I'm not destroying anything. Therefore, there's nothing you should be worrying about. If you want to actually make yourself useful, you could help me."

Sorting out the kitchen drawers was a surprisingly trivial matter, slightly hastened by 568's reluctant help. Emboldened by the task, 131S briefly considered what else lay beneath the surface that should be brought to light to be fixed. Remembering the disaster area that was Joseph's bedroom, he enlisted 568 to help him sift through the piles of junk in his room, but one specific pile in particular. At the very least, he had the decency to throw all of it into boxes.

131S looked through it all with disdain. Why did he have all of this? Circuit boards, old RAM sticks, some sort of drive readers, all of them caked in some form of dust. Careful not to raise a cloud of dust, 131S carefully set the components down, and then turned to find where the garbage bags were.

Downstairs, a door closed. Joseph began warily speaking, his voice muted though the house. "Uh, 131S? You aren't- you haven't broken anything, have you?"

"No, I haven't," 131S called down. "In fact, I'll have you know that I've been hard at work making this residence more habitable, by-"

Joseph had stormed up the stairs while 131S spoke, cutting him off by throwing the door open. The concern on his face turned to fear as he saw 131S standing over one of the opened boxes. "What are you doing‽"

"I'm just looking through-"

"Without any kind of method to remove static? Don't you know what that could do to those components?"

"Calm down, they're just-"

"They're not 'just components'. I've spent too much time and effort to have you carelessly damage them!" Joseph grabbed onto 131S's collar, attempting to pull him back toward the hallway. Though not as successful as he thought he'd be, 131S found himself being surprisingly pulled along.

"568, stop him!" Though he shouted at the pod, she hung in the air, staring at him fight back. Mocking him. "Pod! This is an order!"

"Request: wording indicating this unit is assigned to 131S."

"What are you talking about? There wasn't-" 131S froze as everything clicked.

"Precisely."

Joseph threw 131S into the hallway as best he could, throwing himself backwards in the process. With a couple of swift calculations, 131S noted the optimal force to prevent such an altercation from recurring, then turned back toward the instigator of this nonsense.

"Look, if this was supposed to be a problem," 131S asked, "why didn't you tell me so earlier?"

"Why would you even try to break into my room in the first place? Who just violates someone else's privacy and thinks that it'll be fine?"

"I didn't 'break into your room', and I didn't 'violate your privacy'. All I did was check the contents of those boxes and try to re-organize your room."

"Why did you even try to re-organize my room? I never asked you to do so, and I'm more than certain that it's not normal to do this when you're left alone at someone's house."

"I'm just doing what I normally do," 131S tried to reason, "when I was back at J/Ψ, I-"

"Where?"

"J/Ψ. The… camp I- well, I worked at." He ignored the confused look on Joseph's face. "I was an administrator there, and my primary function was removing inefficiencies of various systems. I was simply following the job I had earlier."

Joseph paused. "So… how does that change the fact that I didn't ask you to futz around in my room?"

"I'm following my job-"

"And that's my room. I'm lucky I caught you before you broke any of those components. My friend sent me that stuff on a loan- I want to return it all in as good condition as I received it."

"Alert:" 568 decided to pipe up, "Unit 131S rearranged the contents of several drawers in the kitchen."

"What‽" Joseph took off toward the stairs.

"568," 131S spoke through gritted teeth, not looking at the pod in question, "why did you specifically further irritate Joseph?"

"Revenge."

131S fumed as he racked his memory. Joseph had demanded that he "undo the damage" to the kitchen sorting system. Apparently, Joseph already possessed some previous method of organizing the kitchen- an arcane mess of rules, a jumble of sorting systems cobbled together from several other rule sets.

His frustration grew when he heard Joseph walk down the stairs. What was he going to complain about now? That he wasn't going fast enough? That he actually liked the other arrangement more, and that he'd need to redo it all?

"131S, look." Joseph stepped into the kitchen, with a surprisingly even tone. "I'm trying to give you a fair chance. I don't want to be mad at you, but you're not exactly making a lot of sense. I'm not understanding the reasons why you think it's suddenly okay to rummage through other people's rooms, and 'because I was able to at my past job' is not an acceptable excuse."

131S set down the spices in his hands before attempting to answer, lest his anger get the best of him, again. "It's not that 'I was permitted to in my past job, so it's acceptable now', I understand how regional rules work. The problem is, I can't do my job if I'm not able to properly analyze the working and living environments."

"And who said that you should be able to do so here?"

"Excuse you, who said that I wasn't supposed to continue my job? 568 doesn't have the permissions, Accord hadn't told me otherwise, and least of all you, who'd make the most sense to say otherwise, haven't said anything!"

"But you just moved into someone else's house! That's not reason enough to-"

"I have my job! I know what I'm supposed to do!"

An explosion rang out, forcing them to clamp their hands over their ears, cutting off the argument. An ear-piercing screech ripped through the house not even a moment after. As 131S and Joseph recovered from the shock, they uncertainly glanced toward the source of the sound. Were it not for the other's sudden reaction, each of them could have believed that it was just a minor trick in their minds.

They both broke into a sprint toward the front door.

* * *

Sorry about the late chapter drop; I'm trying to get more back into the swing of weekly writing.


	5. Revelation

Once again, another late chapter, but at least it's delivered! Happy Thanksgiving, Americans.

* * *

131S was the first to burst outside, cognisant that Joseph was right behind him. He could only approximate where the sound of the explosion came from, somewhere off to the north of the house. Scanning the horizon, he saw no notable indicators for something that should have been so impactful.

Joseph stumbled outside a second after 131S. "Wh- Did you catch where it came from?"

"To the north. I can give an area, but I can't pinpoint exactly where. 568!" 131S pinged the pod, then sent the coordinates. "Search the area by air, send us anything you find that's noteworthy."

"Affirmative." 568 bolted off into the sky as 131S grabbed Joseph and broke into a run toward the forest.

"1… 131… 3… Slow down!" Breathless, Joseph called after 131S. "Can't- I can't- I'm only-"

"Joseph, the longer we wait, the more time we're giving this anomaly. Considering your concern earlier, there is obviously something wrong with this situation."

"I… I'm not… wearing m'self out for this!" Joseph leaned against a nearby tree. "Look… I know these woods, I can just head b-"

"Like hell, you are." 131S grabbed Joseph and lobbed him over his shoulder before returning to his breakneck pace.

"13- What are you doing? Put me down!"

"We're going to find the anomaly. Come on, 568 just sent me coordinates."

"What?"

"She found something. It's urgent."

"What did she find?"

"I can't tell, myself. Earlier photos were from too far away, and the later photos aren't enough for me to completely discern what's going on."

Joseph sighed. "Do you have any idea of how long it's going to be until we get there?"

"Shorter than it was when you were on foot."

"Thanks."

The forest flew past in a blur as 131S kept a breakneck pace. He constantly checked to make sure he was heading toward where 568 told him to go- a difficult task, considering the forest was foreign ground to him. The pod pinged various images to him intermittently, which he chose to ignore, vastly preferring to keep track of where he was and what new route he was taking.

It was… how should he put it, odd for him to feel this way, to be doing something like this. Something about him had changed along with his locale, but he couldn't quite place what. 131S knew that, if something like this were to occur at his old camp, then he would have stayed behind, relegating the task to another android that he was sure could do the job adequately. And it wasn't that he couldn't send another android to do the job for him, some part of him told himself that he had to do this.

These thoughts quieted to a murmur as 131S drew near to the site of the anomaly. Things felt off here, and Joseph shifting on his shoulder only confirmed these fears. On the way here, small creatures had skittered out of the way of the android, but here, there was only silence greeting him. More and more branches lay broken about, stripped from their trunks.

131S had slowed, taking the effects in, and suddenly felt a tap on his back. "Mind letting me down?" After complying, Joseph stood and stared at the oddities around him. "131S, what… what happened?"

"Burst shockwave, I'll say. Pressure from the explosion normally kills animals and breaks branches, but there doesn't seem to be any record of its other hallmarks. Usually caused by bombs, meteorites-"

"Wait, what?!"

"But there's no reason for that to be here, right?" 131S turned to Joseph expectantly.

"Well, no! Of course not!"

"Then we'll need to examine the remains at the site. 568 sent me a few pictures of ground zero. There appears to be something there, probably foreign. Come on, we're not far."

131S stopped in his tracks. Gunfire. Pod gunfire.

"Everything-" He didn't hear what else Joseph had to say. If 568 was attacking something, there would be more problems than he could count. Though he broke off from the human, he heard footsteps attempting to keep the pace.

The wooden barricade came into view and was quickly surmounted. 131S scanned the surroundings as he landed on the other side.

Some humanoid form was kneeling, crumpled down. Its left arm was torn off, left in a desiccated pile nearby. Its body was riddled with holes, charring the white form black. But the face is what frightened 131S the most. A torn, shredded landscape that merely hosted what amounted to a vague reference to a human visage.

And it began to crumble apart.

Opposite it, 568 hovered eerily still, weapon still at the ready, glowing in front of her. From behind, Joseph slowly clambered over the barricade of wood, only catching the final throes of the creature.

"What...? 131S, is that ash?"

The android stepped forward, disbelieving what he saw in the pile before him. "No. It's salt."

* * *

Don't forget that Nier to Death also got a new chapter!


End file.
